Woman Of The Frontier
by Alex GD
Summary: Spin-off from from the ES Fanfiction "The Conatrian" I bring you the tales of Sofie Ravencrone's arduous journeys through the relentless frontier of Solstheims wilderness as she pursues recruitment for her Order and tracks down her arch-nemeses, The Thalmor.
1. Druid

Woman of The Frontier

Druid

4E 223

She trudged through the snow, this traveller. Hood low, axe in hand. She stalked the deer, utilising her instincts. Slow movement after slower movement, she neared her victim, stalking it. Bow drawn, aiming for the Deer's kidney. Her arrow shot from the bow and paralysed the deer, a hound escaping its dying mouth. Within seconds the traveller had sprung from her position and took the arrow from the deer, not wanting it to contaminate her meal. She amputated the deers' body parts individually and deposited them into her knapsack. She sensed movement from behind her. She was on her feet in seconds and turned around to face an Altmer officer clad in Thalmor robes.

He was brandishing a dagger and thrusting it down upon her head. In a fluid movement, she had swerved out of the weapons course and brought her own axe down on the officers spine, trying to block out the sound it made as it cracked in two. He was undoubtedly in the company of other officials and she looked up to see his companions nestled in trees raining arrows down upon the ground where she stood. She moved quickly, evading the arrows as she went. She did well to avoid the storm but slipped as she went over a hill. "Sofie Ravencrone, you stand accused of murdering several Thalmor senior operatives." The newly promoted Elf said, his bow slung proudly over his shoulder. She had been hit by an arrow, gorged in her ankle and blood spraying from the wound.

"Arghhh!" She exclaimed, drawing the arrow from her foot and aiming for the officers eye. In a frenzy of fury, she speared the arrow through the air, piercing through the elf's skull and blood emanating from the eye socket. She fell to the snow-blanketed ground and the remnants of the ambush party scattered off in fear of their lives. She left them and left herself... to whatever end that awaited her. She shut her eyes and waited to drift off.

She closed her eyes, but felt her legs being dragged through the snow. A stranger pulling her first, then hoisted up onto a shoulder. She faded, her energy drained. Lifeless from the paralytic wasteland of Solstheim, Sofie allowed herself to sleep, assured this kidnapper had the best of intentions to heal Sofie's broken body.

The hours passed and Sofie woke, dazed and alarmed by her new surroundings, before sudden recollection of the frustrating turn of events. "Shhh!" The Druid spoke, placing a comforting hand on Sofie's shoulder. The young Conatrian composed herself and lay back on the floor of the hut. "Who are you?" The Conatrian Grandmaster queried this mysterious Druid. "I am Morgana, a tribal Druid of the Hajendazil." She replied. "We have lived in seclusion for millennia in these hills, and have never had the burden of an outsider." Morgana said, Sofie, nervous at this declaration didn't expect her hosts to be entertaining her for long and wanted to get out of this unsettling village of what could soon turn to terror.

Sofie observed the wound in her ankle and found it now neatly wrapped in bandages. She pressed it, to test if it was still painful. It was, to say the least, a pretty stupid move on her part. "Ouchhh!" She yelped, the Druid addressing this expression with a scornful look and drawing her dagger. Morgana spun around and in a nanosecond had pointed her weapon at the wound, horrifying Sofie with what the young girl thought she would do next. "Are you going to amputate?" She queried, concerned with the possibilities swimming through her head.

"Not for now..." She said, sheathing her dagger.

Sofie breathed a sigh of relief at the Druid's decision not to cut her foot off. "You will be in Hajendazil for the next few weeks, unfortunately." Morgana announced, brewing some canis root tea. "I plan to leave as soon as I can." Sofie said, honestly. "Thank you for your truthful my few encounters with outsiders, I have severely loathed them. I doubt you will change my opinion of them.

"Then why don't you discharge me now, then?" Sofie queried "I hate you, but you will provide enough coin to feed the village for now." Morgana said. Sofie wondered what would bring a young woman such as herself to rescue a wounded hunter. But as most things were these days, it was money that motivated her chivalry. "I don't have much gold on me at the moment." Sofie told a blatant lie. "The sacrificial ceremony of every animal we can find is coming up..." Morgana told her, a warning in her notification.

Sofie heeded that warning and knew not to trample on the villagers toes. She paid up and threw her a purse fat with gold. The Druid smiled and came over to examine the ankle once more. "I'll consult my wares and begin operating tomorrow." Morgana said, still beaming from the purse of gold. She handed Sofie a potion, a liquid-green colour sparkling from the vial. "It's should ease you and put you into a deep sleep." Morgana said, putting the concoction to her lips. Sofie swigged it and immediately fell on her back, sleeping.


	2. Repaying Debts

Woman Of The Frontier

Repaying Debts

4E 223

An early rise was instigated by Morgana entering Sofie's tent to wake her and inform her of the plans for the day.

"Get up. We're going hunting." The tribeswoman said, gently but repeatedly kicking Sofie in the head to wake her up. Sofie let out a wince of pain at the native trying to give her concussion.

"Despite what happened the last time you went out to hunt, you need to make a start on repaying what you owe us. Which is your life, but our elders decided against that." Morgana said, startling Sofie. This must've been the first time in years she had been intimidated by someone. And yet, Morgana seemed to add a touch of humour to her aggression, something Sofie rarely saw anymore

Having made the necessary preparations, she met with Morgana and the other tribals who would be accompanying them. She had never seen such strange dresses. The only remotely similar garbs were worn by the forsworn of Markarth, though they were slightly more underdressed than the Hajendazil. Morgana wore a lace gown embroidered with indigenous symbols and markings. Sofie had also compared them to the Skaal who lived below them in the East of Solstheim, though Morgana seemed to be disgusted by the very notion.

The hunt began and the band of tribals and Sofie advanced into the wilderness to track elk and bears. Around ten minutes after the hunt commenced, Sofie made her first few kills. Three fox, two hart. All clean and quick deaths, _deserving ends for graceful creatures_, Sofie thought. She proceeded to take the lives of a good number; the forests must've been teeming with game around this time of year.

Her ankle was healing nicely, Morgana made a good nurse, even if her bedside manner was virtually non-existent. The hunting troop regrouped by the old oak tree they agreed as the rendezvous point. The older contingent of the tribe made their way back to the village while Morgana cornered Sofie to discuss the rest of her repayment.

"You're not going back to Hajendazil, _just_ yet, Sofie." Morgana said, gesturing to her.

"Why not?" Sofie queried, curious of if this was another of Morgana's mind games.

"Because we need food, and you have errands to run. I want you to gather, buy or forage food from the surrounding areas. I hear Raven Rock is full of substantial food and supplies. No one will suspect you, an outsider and we cannot expose ourselves, or we risk being discovered by outsiders unlike yourself." Morgana explained.

This seemed like another one of the many hoops Sofie had to jump through for Morgana's sheer pleasure. Nevertheless, from that moment on, she began to make regular trips to Raven Rock to compensate for the money it cost the tribe to rescue her from deaths' door. She continued to buy materials for the Hajendazil for the next couple of weeks, until the day came that her payback was complete.

"Good news," Morgana said as Sofie entered the longhouse.

"What is it?" The Conatrian asked half-expecting it to be another trial to the many she had already had to endure while with the Hajendazil.

"You have successfully repaid your debt to us." The druid said, indicating to the door of the longhouse, Sofie only too happy to comply with her final command.

"Goodbye, Morgana."

"'Til next we meet." A thin smile appearing on Morgana's face as she bid the girl farewell.

With that, Sofie left the longhouse and continued her adventures in Solstheim.


End file.
